From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Secret Cinema: CURATOR'S CHOICE 2008 at Moore College of
Art & Design
Date: September 17, 2008 2:10:42 AM EDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
The Secret Cinema at Moore College of Art & Design
presents CURATOR'S CHOICE 2008: UNSEEN CORNERS OF
THE SECRET CINEMA ARCHIVES
Friday, September 26
8:00 pm
Admission: $7.00
Moore College of Art & Design
20th & Race Streets, Philadelphia
(215) 965-4099
On Friday, September 26, The Secret Cinema start its eleventh season
at Moore College of Art and Design, with CURATOR'S CHOICE 2008:
UNSEEN CORNERS OF THE SECRET CINEMA ARCHIVES. This hand-picked
program of nearly-lost treasures from the deepest depths of the
Secret Cinema film vaults will include just that -- with all films
never shown before by us, and for that matter, probably 100%
guaranteed to have never been seen before by any of the audience!
Some popular Secret Cinema programs get repeated over the years, to
expose them to new audiences; other program ideas have been reused
but with new/different films. CURATOR'S CHOICE 2008 falls in the
latter category. This is only the third outing for the CURATOR'S
CHOICE concept, which we last did exactly two years ago. WE HAVE
NEVER SHOWN ANY OF THESE ACTUAL SHORT FILMS EVER BEFORE.
The Secret Cinema's private archive contains literally thousands of
reels of 16mm (and 35mm, and 8mm) features, theatrical shorts,
cartoons, newsreels, television shows, educational films, travel
films, industrial films, and home movies. Together, they add up to
well over one million feet of often rare celluloid, with several
prints thought to be the only extant copies in the world.
Since 1992, the Secret Cinema has sought to create programming that
exposes every type of these films, by showing these fascinating,
historical, and often hilarious short films before features or in
themed groupings. Yet, despite exposing hundreds of rare works this
way, there are still many choice reels that we've never got around to
screening publicly, often unclassifiable films that had inconvenient
running times or could fit into no common theme.
Some of the best of these amazing films will again see the light of a
projector bulb in CURATOR'S CHOICE 2008. This previously ungroupable
group of short films will include films that were made to entertain,
to teach, to encourage commerce and to alter opinion. Spanning many
decades, many show wondrous places, styles and things that have long-
since vanished. Some of them now seem campy, others still have valid
lessons to teach, but all are fascinating, and extremely unlikely to
be seen anywhere else, including on video.
There will be one complete program, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is
$7.00.
The program is still being assembled, but just a few highlights are:
YOU IN GREAT BRITAIN (1954) - This Armed Forces Information Film was
never meant to be seen by a general audience, but a uniformed one --
specifically, members of our military who were stationed in a
recovering England in the post-war era. The short begins with a short
historical segment showing why the U.K., despite a very different
temperament in its citizens, was much closer to the American ideal
than other nations being harmed by "aggressive communism." We then
take a more intimate peek at the lives of typical Britons. As England
was still struggling to put its economy back together, the American
soldiers were cautioned not to throw their money around in a boastful
way that might offend our less-fortunate allies. A fascinating
document, with Larry Hagman yet.
COCA COLA: OPERATION TIGER (1975?) - Yet another private film made
for privileged eyes: This corporate motivational film was made to
instill pride and passion in the hearts of Coca Cola bottlers and
their delivery men, in hope that they would take extra care when
setting up store displays of the "beautiful red and white labels" on
countless cases of Coca Cola. It was part of a 1970s campaign
secretly titled "Operation Tiger," and attempted to inspire these men
to become fierce kings of the soft drink jungle. A rare view from
inside the belly of the carbonated corporate beast!
THE MAKING OF THE PRESIDENT 1960 (1961) - This timely classroom
short, made entirely from period newsreel footage, looks at the
presidential campaigns and political conventions that launched our
most tumultuous decade. Includes close-up looks at the winners
(Kennedy and Nixon) and also-rans (Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey,
Nelson Rockefeller, Adlai Stevenson and others). This was the first
presidential election to collect votes from our two newest states,
which coincidentally were the childhood homes of Barack Obama
(Hawaii) and Sarah Palin (Alaska). Neither were yet born, but they
were no doubt later inspired by the presence of local voting booths.
RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT: MEETING STRANGERS (1969) - This potentially
scary educational film uses a simple color-coded visual effect to
allow its primary school audience to quickly divide people into two
possible categories -- strangers, all of whom seem to be predatory
perverts, and known, trustworthy authority figures (such as teachers,
police, clergy and friends' parents!). Perhaps a more reliable litmus
test would be to beware of anyone with an undue interest in the 1924
silent film WILD AND WOOLY.
WILD AND WOOLY (1924, silent) - The opening credits inform us that
WILD AND WOOLY is "one of the Novelty Comedy RIBTICKLERS," but little
else is known about the origin of this truly bizarre short from the
golden age of silent comedy. The brief story of a genteel mother who
grooms her young boy to look like a sissy when he would rather play
rough with the neighborhood tough kids is creepy enough...but it is
rendered that much more disturbing by the filming of a gratuitous and
shocking nude scene of the curly-haired child, as his mother dries
him off after a shower! Not to be confused with the better-known
Douglas Fairbanks film of the same title.
…plus much, much more!
SECRET CINEMA WEBSITE: http://www.thesecretcinema.com
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